Gulf Spill – it’s our fault

Well, I don’t know how to break this to you, and I’ve started down a couple paths to try to soften the blow, but it just becomes too convoluted. So in this case the direct way is best.

We are all responsible for a couple things that have been in the news lately. First, the massive oil spill in the Gulf. Every single one of the 42 gallons in each of the roughly 5,000 barrels leaking daily is our fault. And if that wasn’t enough, each of the 29 miners who died in early April in the coal mines of West Virginia should weigh heavily on our shoulders. Both of these incidents are a direct result of our collective decisions.

Starting with the oil spill, and I looked up the numbers to be sure, as of 2009 there were 1.7 million barrels of oil pumped from the Gulf every day. And this oil spill that’s more than likely still going to be growing long after this magazine is delivered is only leaking three-tenths of 1 percent of the daily oil production in the Gulf. In other words, even under these abominable conditions the oil companies in the Gulf are still operating at a 99.7% rate of effectiveness. Statistically insignificant, in most cases it probably wouldn’t even be worth mentioning. Heck, a combination of progesterone and estrogen is only 99.7% effective in stopping unwanted pregnancies but we still call it birth control. So it is surprising that most of the public is focusing on BP and figuring out what they did wrong, and how they should be punished. While I feel just the opposite should be happening, that in light of this oil spill we should be praising the oil industry for such a long history of amazing efficiency and safety. How can we expect any person or organization to be perfect, and 100 percent safe? That seems to me to be completely unrealistic.

I feel like we should instead turn the mirror on ourselves and take responsibility for our complete and utter dependence on oil. Sure we pump gas into our cars and trucks at the average of 20-30 gallons a week, but we also fertilize our yards, pave our streets, clothe ourselves, protect our food, carpet our houses, paint our bedrooms, brush our teeth, shampoo our hair, repel bugs, cover our cuts and bruises, color our lips, protect our heads and the list could go on and on. We cannot wake up in the morning without touching, breathing, drinking and eating oil each and every day. If our dependence on oil wasn’t so overwhelming and complete, the BPs of the world would not be in the Gulf, and we would not be watching with horror as large tar balls wash ashore in the marshes of Louisiana.

And then there is coal, which produces 54 percent of all the electricity in the United States. The 29 miners who died were two miles underground not because of a particularly dangerous hobby, or because of an interest in caving, but because they were extracting coal from the earth. They were in pursuit of coal because we demand our Miller light to be chilled to 40 degrees prior to enjoying, and because we want to watch the latest installment of “Sex in the City” in high definition realism with 5.1 Dolby surround sound in a fully air conditioned theater, and we expect nothing less.

With all this said, I’m not going to be walking home or sweating in my office and this editorial was not produced on an old manual Smith Corona typewriter. I am as much to blame as everyone else; I just think we should be willing to shoulder our responsibility for these events that are destroying the environment.

~ Todd Trimakas